Physicians and medical researchers in the United States appear to have declared war against vitamin and mineral supplements.Last November Medscape, a website that provides news articles and educational activities for physicians, declared “the dark side of vitamins and supplements” the 2011 finding most likely to change the way doctors practice medicine.They followed up in February 2012 with an editorial titled “Trash the Vitamins: Convince Your Patients.”

I have recently seen headlines reading “Vitamin Supplements Associated with Increased Risk for Death,” “Vitamin E Supplements May Raise the Risk for Prostate Cancer,” and “Long-term Antioxidant Supplementation Has No Effect on Health-Related Quality of Life.”Taking the headlines at face value would lead one to believe that vitamin supplementation has become one of the leading causes of death in the United States!This is not the case.

When I look at the actual studies that purportedly demonstrate that vitamin and mineral supplements are of no benefit at best and deadly at worst I inevitably discover that the headlines are deceiving. In many cases the studies have been designed in a manner that assures a poor outcome and in others the results do not support the conclusions that are drawn from them. Often only a single nutrient has been supplemented rather that the dozens required for optimum performance.It other studies the strength of the supplement provided is far below the level that has been shown to be effective.

Recent reports that vitamin E supplementation increases the risk of developing prostate cancer are a case in point.The reports are based on the findings of a study designed to determine whether vitamin E and selenium supplementation could reduce the risk of prostate cancer (Klein EA et al. Vitamin E and the risk of prostate cancer: The Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Prevention Trial (SELECT). JAMA 2011 Oct 12; 306:1549).

The study found that when taken alone vitamin E increased the risk of prostate cancer by 17 percent.The increased risk was not seen when men supplemented vitamin E and selenium in combination.

The study is being used to support the position that nutritional supplementation is a dangerous practice.Most physicians are advising men to avoid vitamin E and many are telling their patients to avoid any type of nutritional supplementation.This, however, is a misinterpretation and misapplication of the study’s results.

While I do not claim prophetic insight I wrote the following over twenty years ago:“Studies to date have focused on supplementation of single nutrients, primarily beta-carotene, vitamin E and vitamin C.While some benefits have been seen, it is entirely predictable that adverse effects will also be encountered . . . The body’s antioxidant defense system is designed to work in concert.Supplementing only one component of the system will risk exhausting the resources in other parts of the system causing a breakdown.”This is precisely what this study demonstrates.

When taken as a stand-alone supplement vitamin E appears to cause more harm than good.When taken along with selenium no harm is seen.Imagine what the study findings would be if vitamin E was taken along with the entire spectrum of vitamins and minerals needed by the body for ongoing maintenance and repair.Unless and until studies are undertaken looking at the effect of supplementing optimum levels of all essential nutrients simultaneously the results will continue to suggest that nutritional supplementation is of no value and potentially harmful.Of course, this is precisely the myth that a system reaping huge rewards from treating sickness rather than promoting wellness wishes to maintain.

The body requires over 100 nutrients to efficiently perform its ongoing maintenance and repair activities.Stating that supplementation is ineffective because a single nutrient failed to produce dramatic benefits is like finding that a watch will not run if it has only one gear and then declaring that watches are ineffective timepieces that should be discarded.

The message of the prostate cancer study is not that vitamin E is dangerous and to be avoided.It is that the approach to nutritional supplementation should be comprehensive rather than piecemeal.

By Dale Peterson, MD

By Dale Peterson, MD- Building Health

Dr. Dale Peterson is a graduate of the University of Minnesota College of Medicine. He completed his residency in Family Medicine at theUniversityof Oklahoma. He is a past president of the Oklahoma Academy of FamilyPhysicians. He had a full-time family practice in Edmond, Oklahoma, for over 20 years and was a Chief of Staff of the Edmond Hospital. He was active in teaching for many years as a Clinical Professor of Family Medicine through the Oklahoma UniversityHealth Sciences Center.

Dr. Peterson left his full-time family practice in 1999 to consult with individuals who are seeking ways to restore and maintain their health through improved nutrition and other lifestyle changes. He founded the Wellness Clubs of America to give people access to credible information on supporting and maintaining their health. His monthly wellness letter, Health by Design, and his Health by Design E-Newsletter provide helpful information to individuals interested in preventing and conquering health challenges. His book Building Health by Design: Adding Life to Your Years and Years to Your Life was released in December 2010.

Dr. Peterson speaks regularly on subjects related to health and nutrition. He hosted a weekly radio program,Your Health Matters, on KTOK in Oklahoma City for five years. For the past nine years he has addressed questions from across the nation on his Your Health Matters weekly teleconference.He offers a free video LifeXtension course at www.drdalepeterson.com.

Editor's Note: Do not consider medical editorial reviews, news items and other general information found in any Families Online Magazine medical or natural health columns as a prescription, medical advice or an endorsement for any treatment or procedure. Always seek any medical advice from your doctor. Medical editorial reviews and other news items that you read about may or may not be appropriate for your particular health problem or concern. Always refer these matters to your physician for clarification and determination. Any information provided in may be controversial, totally unrelated to your own situation, even harmful if taken merely at face value without appropriate evaluation of your specific condition, and therefore must be considered simply to be an editorial review, a news review or a general medical information review and not as relating to your specific condition or as information for diagnosis, evaluation or treatment of your specific condition.